


Gas Money

by SamCyberCat



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 16:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16245698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: While he's out driving one evening, Sousuke spots a familiar face that stirs less than familiar feelings inside of him.





	Gas Money

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Love Free! Week, Day Three, Prompt B: What is their earliest memory of their relationship?

From the start, Sousuke had always known there was something about Kisumi. He wasn't sure what it was, but the way Kisumi's laugh made his stomach lurch and the way that Kisumi's teasing riled him up worse than anyone else's... it just confused Sousuke all throughout his childhood. There were often times when Sousuke would be grumpy towards Kisumi because of that, but it never seemed to deter Kisumi from hanging around with him and Sousuke knew that deep down, he was glad that was the case. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he actually upset Kisumi.

Sometimes he'd sit at the table, staring thoughtfully into his breakfast and when his mother asked him what was wrong, Sousuke would reply that he was confused about Kisumi. All that resulted in was a knowing shake of his mother's head, which only annoyed Sousuke even further. If his mother knew what the deal was, then why wouldn't she just tell him?

It wasn't until Sousuke was much older that he realised. He realised what his mother had known all along, but wanted Sousuke to figure out for himself.

He'd passed his driving test earlier that week. His family weren't rich, but they got by well enough with running the restaurant and it turned out that they'd saved up to get Sousuke a car. They were too good to him, honestly. None of the Yamazaki family were great with being openly affectionate, but Sousuke had hugged both of his parents and his father had even cried a little. There was no way he was wasting such a gift.

Which was why Sousuke had been driving the car as often as he could since he'd got it. The one thing holding him back was that he was quickly figuring out just how expensive gas was. It had eaten a considerable amount of his wages before he admitted defeat. But one more joyride couldn't hurt, right?

Looking back on that day later on in life, Sousuke was glad he'd made that somewhat irresponsible choice. Because it was while he was heading back home in the evening when he saw a familiar face at a bus stop in the centre of town. Winter was setting in, so it had started to get dark much earlier. That was why it took Sousuke a moment to recognise the person. He slowed his car right down, squinting across to see... Kisumi?

They hadn't crossed paths for a while, since Sousuke had buried himself in his training lately. Usually Kisumi was easy to notice, even at just a glance, but Sousuke realised that the pink dye in Kisumi's hair was running thin, leaving him with more of his natural ginger colour on display than Kisumi would normally allow.

Most people would probably be curious about someone slowing a car down near them, but Kisumi didn't even look up from where he was staring at the ground, watching the rain splatter from the roof of the bus shelter. It wasn't like Kisumi to be so dejected and seeing him that way stirred something inside of Sousuke. He pulled over into the bus stop, hoping that a bus wouldn't come for the next few minutes, and then he wound his window down and called across.

“Oi, Kisumi! Need a lift?” Sousuke said.

It wasn't subtle, but it got Kisumi's attention. Kisumi jerked his head up from whatever trance he'd been in and, for a moment, he looked sad, but as soon as he realised it was Sousuke, Kisumi's face lit up. His eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled and that was something else that had always made Sousuke feel funny. Whatever the reason was that Kisumi was upset, Sousuke was glad that just seeing him seemed to snap him out of it now that he was here.

“Sousuke! Long time no see,” Kisumi replied, “You sure you don't mind?”

“Didn't pass my test so I could avoid giving my friends lifts,” said Sousuke, “Get in before you're soaked. It's pissing it down out here.”

Kisumi didn't need to be told twice. He hurried around to the passenger side, huddling his arms close to his body until he got inside. Once Sousuke heard the click of Kisumi's seatbelt, he pulled away from the bus stop and carried on driving.

“So where to?” he asked, “I could take you home, if you want? I pass your house on the way.”

At first there was no answer. Kisumi was strangely quiet, considering that usually he'd be the one to fill up enough conversation for several people. Sousuke wasn't sure how he'd deal with it if the pressure was on him to keep the conversation running, but from the evasive way that Kisumi responded, he realised that might have to be the case.

“I'm not sure...” Kisumi replied, “I guess I should go home, but... you know my parents will just ask questions if I come in looking like this.”

Sousuke risked glancing away from the road just long enough to look at Kisumi's appearance. The faded hair dye was a slow process, so he can't have been talking about that. In fact, Sousuke remembered how badly Kisumi's parents had flipped out the first time that Kisumi had dyed his hair pink, so they'd probably be glad that it was less so now. But beyond his hair, Kisumi was clearly dressed up fancy, an effect that had been slightly ruined by the rain. Although Sousuke doubted that the rain was the reason that Kisumi's mascara had run down his cheeks. Kisumi had been crying?

“You can come back to my folk's place with me,” Sousuke decided, “But let's drive around for a while first. So you can tell me what's up.”

It was worth spending gas money on that. Definitely.

“So demanding,” Kisumi teased, “How could I say no to that?”

The rain lashed against the windscreen as they drove through town. Sousuke was glad that it was a quiet night, so he didn't have much traffic to contend with. Not that there was ever a lot in a small town like Sano. Sousuke was a big fish in a small pond driving around here. If he ever moved to Tokyo, he'd probably be in for a shock with all the traffic there.

For a while, Kisumi didn't say anything more. But just as Sousuke was thinking about prompting him, Kisumi finally spoke up.

“There isn't much to say,” Kisumi told him, “You'll probably just think I'm being daft. It's just... well, I've been seeing this guy for a while. It wasn't going well and tonight he finally broke up with me. I knew it was coming, but it still hurts, you know...? I was just sitting feeling sorry for myself when you drove by.”

“I don't think you're being daft at all,” Sousuke quickly replied.

But after that, he wasn't sure what to say. His brain was trying to process the information that he'd just received. Sousuke had known Kisumi since they were both very young. His earliest memories with Kisumi involved Sousuke, Kisumi and Rin mildly terrorising their neighbourhood by sneaking into the garden of the grumpy old lady who lived along the street, riding their bikes far too fast down the hill and pestering Sousuke's mother to take them out fishing at the docks. Even the last time Sousuke had seen Kisumi a few months ago, there was a sense of naïve innocence to the way they talked together. Somehow, hearing that Kisumi was dating felt almost jarring. It was just too... grown up? But that probably wasn't right. They were both teenagers now and other people their age were dating, even if Sousuke hadn't thought about it himself. There was just something about Kisumi dating that hit him harder.

That wasn't the most important part, though. What mattered was that Kisumi had been dating, but now wasn't any more. Because the person he'd been with had left him. Sousuke frown at the road ahead.

“Guy must've been an idiot,” he added.

“Not really... We just wanted different things,” said Kisumi, “It'd be wrong to blame him. He was very sensible and I guess I just wasn't. At first I thought it'd be opposites attract, but maybe we were just too opposite for it to work out. Every time I laughed, I felt like it was annoying him.”

“Can't have been a sensible guy if laughing got on his nerves,” Sousuke insisted, determined to see the villain in this guy he'd never met, “Sounds like you got lucky to lose someone like that.”

Kisumi sighed; “Maybe I'll agree with you in a few months, but right now I'm just... torn up about it. I put so much effort into tonight, I'd been trying to grow out the dye for him and I dressed up nicely. Even though I knew it was going badly, I wanted to make it work. Yet nothing I did was good enough...”

“The way I see it, if you have to change so much of yourself to make someone else happy, they aren't right for you,” said Sousuke, “You've always loved your pink hair and you laugh more than anyone I've ever met. That's a good thing. You should find someone who appreciates you for those qualities.”

Although Sousuke wasn't usually one for pep-talking, when he did get on his soapbox, he was extremely opinionated.

“I'll let you know when I find a guy like that,” Kisumi replied, giving a weak chuckle that did nothing to hide his insecurities.

The next few seconds were make or break. Sousuke suddenly felt his hands on the steering wheel with a renewed sense of clarity. The road ahead, the rain against the windscreen, the wipers swishing noisily and most importantly, Kisumi sitting next to him – it all seemed to come into a new sense of focus. Part of Sousuke screamed at him not to say anything stupid, but thankfully Sousuke chose to ignore that part.

“You've already found one,” he said.

The words echoed in his head. There was no doubt about them. Kisumi had already found a guy who appreciated Kisumi for who he was. It just took an idiot like Sousuke this long to realise that he did.

“I have...?” Kisumi asked, not seeming to understand the gravity of the words the way that Sousuke did.

Why did Kisumi have to make this so difficult?

“Yeah, I mean you're damn well sitting next to him,” said Sousuke.

“Oh...? Ohhh!” Kisumi gasped, “Sousuke, do you mean that?”

“Wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it,” assured Sousuke.

The next thing Sousuke knew, Kisumi had flopped against him, hugging him as best he could while the seatbelt held him back. Sousuke swerved the car slightly, but thankfully nothing was coming the other way.

“Oi, be careful!”

But Sousuke didn't have it in him to be actually annoyed. He'd made Kisumi happy again in the face of a breakup and he'd realised something about himself as well. As the car lurched along the road, Sousuke suddenly realised that maybe he didn't want to go home just yet. Instead, he pulled over onto the side of the road and turned to look properly at Kisumi, who was staring across at him with eyes that held more wonder than Sousuke deserved.

What was a romantic thing to say? He was technically asking Kisumi out right now, wasn't he? It wasn't fair that Sousuke's brain had suddenly drawn a blank.

“So do you want to... make out in the back for a while? Then when we're done, we could pick up some pink dye from the late store and fix your hair up nice. Promise I won't mess it up again this time.”

...That was what had come out of Sousuke's mouth. Fuck.

Kisumi reached a hand up, stroking his slender fingers along Sousuke's jawline. His lips curled into a smile that Sousuke had never seen in all the years that he'd known Kisumi, but he realised right away that he wanted to see that smile a lot more.

“Sounds good to me,” Kisumi purred.

And then after that... well, Sousuke was very glad he spent his gas money on one last joyride that evening.


End file.
